Rudy
0Loading crowd target
0Loading crowd target
6correct to beat the crowd
50 free Rudy trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Rudy is the underdog story that other underdog stories get measured against. Released in 1993, it follows an undersized kid from a working-class Illinois family who refuses to let go of one idea: playing football for Notre Dame. Decades on, it remains one of the best-loved sports films ever made. This quiz covers the whole of it. There are questions on the plot and its characters, from the family at home to the friends Rudy makes on campus; on the actors, including two future stars in their first film roles; and on the production, the music and the film's long afterlife. You will also meet the real man behind the story and the places where the screenplay bent the truth. It is written for fans who have seen the film more than once, for sports movie lovers, and for anyone building a trivia night round. Every answer comes with a short explanation, so you will learn something even from the ones you miss.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which NBA legend said Rudy motivated him to work harder and that he had seen it a hundred times?
Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant first saw the film in theaters in 1993, then kept rewatching it on tape. He credited it with pushing him to train harder than he ever had before.
Q 02Who played George Gipp in Knute Rockne, All American, the last film shot at Notre Dame before Rudy?
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan played the dying halfback, and reporters later nicknamed the future president the Gipper. Notre Dame then kept film crews off its campus for decades.
Q 03Which future Marvel director had his first major film role in Rudy as D-Bob, Rudy's tutor and friend?
Jon Favreau
Jon Favreau was working in Chicago improv when he landed the part, his first major film role. He went on to direct Iron Man and create The Mandalorian.
Q 04Which actor plays the title role in Rudy, years before playing a loyal hobbit in The Lord of the Rings?
Sean Astin
Sean Astin finished the shoot covered in head-to-toe bruises from the football scenes. His stuntman fared worse and needed knee surgery by the end of filming.
Q 05In Rudy, a test arranged by Rudy's tutor D-Bob reveals that Rudy has which learning difficulty?
Dyslexia
Dyslexia also held back the real Rudy, who only discovered he had it during his junior-college studies. Notre Dame accepted him after many tries.
Q 06What does Rudy do on the final play of his only game for Notre Dame in the film Rudy?
Sacks the quarterback
Rudy sacks the quarterback as time runs out, and in the real 1975 game the player he brought down was also named Rudy. It is the only statistic on his college record.
Q 07In Rudy, what do Notre Dame's seniors lay on the head coach's desk to demand that Rudy dress?
Their jerseys
Their jerseys pile up one by one in the film's most famous scene, which never happened. The real coach had already announced at practice that Rudy would dress.
Q 08Which future Super Bowl MVP, a teammate of the real Rudy, said the crowd in Rudy never really chanted?
Joe Montana
Joe Montana was on that Notre Dame roster years before his pro fame and later said the film's protest scene was invented too. He agreed that Rudy really did get into the game.
Q 09Which Wedding Crashers star had his first credited film role in Rudy as Notre Dame tailback Jamie O'Hara?
Vince Vaughn
Vince Vaughn was billed as Vincent Vaughn for the part. On the set he met a fellow newcomer who became his co-star in Swingers three years later.
Q 10Rudy's closing caption says no other Notre Dame player since 1975 had received which honor?
Being carried off the field
Being carried off the field happened again two years after the film came out, when teammates lifted fullback Marc Edwards following an upset of USC.
Q 11What is the nickname of the Notre Dame football team that Rudy dreams of joining in the film Rudy?
Fighting Irish
Fighting Irish teams won a national championship in 1977, just two seasons after the real Rudy played his single game for the school.
Q 12In Rudy, where does Rudy work alongside his father and older brothers after finishing high school?
A steel mill
A steel mill was the filmmakers' choice. The real Rudy spent two years working at a power plant before he left home to chase a place at Notre Dame.
Q 13Which team are Notre Dame playing when Rudy finally takes the field in the last home game of Rudy?
Georgia Tech
Q 21In which Illinois city, about 40 miles southwest of Chicago, does Rudy grow up in the film Rudy?
Joliet
Joliet was played on screen by the town of Whiting, Indiana, which stood in for Rudy's hometown once the shoot moved to the Chicago area.
Q 22In the film Rudy, what is Rudy Ruettiger's real first name, which he shares with his father?
Daniel
Daniel Eugene Ruettiger is his full name, and Rudy is only a nickname. The film's credits list his father's part simply as Daniel.
Q 23Which military branch did the real Rudy serve in before college, a chapter the film Rudy leaves out?
The Navy
The Navy had him for two years as a yeoman on a communications command ship. Only after that, and a spell at a power plant, did he head for Indiana.
Georgia Tech lost the real game 24-3 in November 1975, and Rudy was on the field for only its last three plays.
Q 14In Rudy, Rudy tries out for Notre Dame as a walk-on, meaning he joined the team without what?
An athletic scholarship
An athletic scholarship is what separates recruited players from walk-ons, who can practice with a team for years and never appear in a single game.
Q 15In Rudy, which Indiana city does Rudy move to in order to chase his Notre Dame dream?
South Bend
South Bend hosted six weeks of filming in late 1992, including scenes shot at a local bar called Cap N' Cork.
Q 16The star of Rudy made his film debut as Mikey Walsh in which 1985 adventure film?
The Goonies
The Goonies came four years after his very first acting job, a television film in which his real mother played his on-screen mother.
Q 17The actor who plays Rudy in Rudy later appeared as Bob Newby in which Netflix series?
Stranger Things
Stranger Things cast him in its second season in 2017, and he came back in flashback scenes for the third.
Q 18The director and writer of Rudy had earlier made which 1986 film about small-town high school basketball?
Hoosiers
Hoosiers convinced the real Rudy his story could work on screen, so he tracked down its screenwriter and kept after him until he gave in.
Q 19In Rudy, what does teaching assistant D-Bob want help with in exchange for tutoring Rudy?
Meeting girls
Meeting girls comes easily to Rudy and not to D-Bob, so the two trade favors. D-Bob later leaves for law school in Miami but returns for the final game.
Q 20In Rudy, whose death in a workplace explosion pushes Rudy to finally pursue his Notre Dame dream?
His best friend Pete
His best friend Pete is the only person who takes Rudy's ambition seriously, and the accident comes just after Rudy's twenty-second birthday.
Q 24In Rudy, what does Notre Dame's offense do instead of running out the clock, so Rudy's defense can play?
Scores a touchdown
The offense scores a touchdown against the head coach's orders, which sends the defense back out with twenty-seven seconds left.
Q 25At which junior college near Notre Dame does Rudy enroll first in Rudy, hoping to transfer?
Holy Cross
Holy Cross College had opened only in 1966, mainly to educate religious brothers. It later gave the real Rudy an honorary doctorate.
Q 26In Rudy, what is the name of the stadium groundskeeper who gives Rudy a job and a place to sleep?
Fortune
Fortune was not a real person: the real Rudy says the character is a combination of three different people he knew.
Q 27Which Notre Dame coach, shown in Rudy as unwilling to play Rudy, resented his portrayal in the film?
Dan Devine
Dan Devine agreed to be written as the heavy to help the film get made. In reality he was the one who came up with the idea of dressing Rudy.
Q 28Which coach in Rudy promises Rudy he can dress for one game, then leaves Notre Dame before it happens?
Ara Parseghian
Ara Parseghian won national championships at Notre Dame in 1966 and 1973, and his eleven seasons in charge are remembered as the Era of Ara.
Q 29Which priest in Rudy, a former Notre Dame president, advises Rudy to start at a nearby junior college?
Father Cavanaugh
Father Cavanaugh was a real figure: John Cavanaugh led the university as its president from 1946 to 1952.
Q 30In Rudy, which hometown girlfriend wants to marry Rudy but later turns up at Christmas with his brother?
Sherry
Sherry wants to settle down, but Rudy tells her at a funeral that he is leaving for Indiana. She is with his brother Johnny by his first Christmas home.